


A Long Drink of Water

by Laylah



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alliances, Escape, Gen, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-29
Updated: 2011-07-29
Packaged: 2017-10-21 23:08:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/230864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laylah/pseuds/Laylah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The kid's good enough to back up his attitude. If he wants to go to all this trouble to get Suigetsu in shape to be his backup, well, let him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Long Drink of Water

It's hard to keep track of fuck all when he's in the damn tube. And he's terrible at being patient, always has been, but any time something breaks the monotony it's more _experiments_ , the creeper snake himself or his smiling shithead of a doctor. Wait it out, Suigetsu tells himself. Wait it out. They'll fuck up eventually and you'll get your chance.

He always figured he was going to have to make his own chance, though, and it turns out that's not what happens at all. The whole damn place rocks and shudders with the intensity of the fight going on out there, making Suigetsu ripple in the tube, and when it clears up there's one less chakra signature nearby than there used to be. One less and it's coming this way, and it feels like...

"I thought that was you," Suigetsu says, vibrations through the water of his current form. Uchiha Sasuke stands there, calm as a still pond, one hand on the hilt of his vicious little katana as he looks up at Suigetsu's tube. "You finally defeated Orochimaru, huh?"

The brat shrugs. "Yeah, but forget about that," he says. Like it's nothing. Cocky asshole. If Suigetsu had a heart when he was like this it'd skip a beat. "Let's get you out of there."

It's that easy.

Sasuke smashes the tube and lets him spill out, waits for him to re-form and doesn't doesn't even bat an eye when Suigetsu has to push him a little to see what he's made of. Really, not bad at all. It'll be interesting, going with him, even if he's got shitty taste in picking out the rest of his team.

* * *

After all that time in the tube—hell if he wants to ask exactly how long it's been—being out is rougher than Suigetsu wants to admit. The sun's just so fucking bright, and has it always felt this hot? And yeah, okay, making the detour to Zabuza-sempai's grave was his own idea, but fuck, it feels like a long way to go. Sasuke just keeps walking, calm and cool like nothing bothers him, so Suigetsu tries not to show any weakness, but damn.

He stumbles eventually, and when his knees hit the dirt he can feel how fucking hard it's going to be to get back up again. "Shit," he says.

"Worn out already?" Sasuke asks coolly. Like he's disappointed, the arrogant fuck.

"We didn't all get the luxury treatment back there," Suigetsu says. "It's been...a long time since I walked anywhere."

Sasuke lets out a short puff of breath. It might be an annoyed sound, which would make it the first sign of emotion he's shown so far. "You need rest, then."

"And water." The sun's drying him out pretty bad—he had equilibrium in the tube, all nice and climate-controlled, but now he can feel how much the sunlight and dry air are getting to him.

"Mmm." Sasuke tosses him a water bottle. Suigetsu drains the whole thing in one long, needy swallow. It's a start. "More?" Sasuke asks. He sounds like he doesn't give a fuck either way.

Suigetsu tosses back the empty. "Lots more," he says. He wonders what will happen if he turns out to be too demanding to keep around, whether Sasuke will try to kill him instead of just abandoning him somewhere.

When he tries to get up, he thinks for a minute that he'll be okay to keep going for a while, but two steps more and he's dizzy, swaying.

And Sasuke is just _there_ , slinging one of Suigetsu's arms over his shoulders, steady as a goddamn rock. "Don't struggle," he says.

"What the fuck is that supposed to—shit," Suigetsu says, as Sasuke just picks him up and takes off into the trees. It's embarrassing, but it's a little late to let his pride run away with him now. The kid's good enough to back up his attitude. If he wants to go to all this trouble to get Suigetsu in shape to be his backup, well, let him. All in all, Suigetsu figures, it's a good thing Sasuke wasn't also locked up in a little vat somewhere getting poked with Kabuto's scalpels.

"Hey," Suigetsu says, as the thought occurs to him. "Why _didn't_ they cut you up, anyway?"

Sasuke looks down at him, tiny little smug smile on his pretty face. "Is that what they were doing with you?"

Suigetsu shrugs against Sasuke's chest. "Trying," he says. "I'm kind of hard to cut up." He can hear the distant roar of a waterfall now, and it feels like the air is getting more humid. "After that didn't go so great, they started siphoning bits of me out of the tube to see if they could figure out how to transplant my jutsu into somebody else."

"Did it work?" Sasuke asks. He sounds like he's bored, but he kind of always sounds like he's bored. Or else pissed. So maybe he actually wants to know, whatever.

"Don't think so," Suigetsu says. "Figure they would have stopped coming to do it again if they'd managed to get it right."

"Mmm," Sasuke says. "Or else they would have used your entire body to create more liquid soldiers."

The hair rises on the back of Suigetsu's neck despite himself, prickling and uncomfortable. "There's a fucking comforting thought," he says.

Sasuke raises an eyebrow. "What?" he says. "It didn't happen." Is that supposed to be a joke? Is Sasuke fucking with him? Are those even different things?

They come out of the trees and Suigetsu forgets to be pissed, at least for now. Sasuke's brought them right to the waterfall, and the wide, shimmering pool at the base of it. He lands lightly on the pebbly bank—the show-off—and wades into the water, lowering Suigetsu to its surface.

Suigetsu lets go of his solid form, running through Sasuke's hands and splashing into the pool. _Home, home_ , says the churning of the waterfall, _welcome home_. Suigetsu spreads through the water, swirling where the current catches him, eddying through the rocks and between Sasuke's legs. He's missed this so fucking much. And maybe it won't cure everything that ails him—it's still going to take some time and training to get all his stamina back—but damn does he feel better.

Sasuke is watching him even though he's shed his human form, looking into the water with black-and-red Sharingan eyes. Ah, that's right, they were talking, weren't they? Suigetsu let himself get distracted.

He solidifies enough to rise up halfway out of the water and look at Sasuke again. "You didn't answer me before," he says. "I would have thought Orochimaru would love to have a set of Sharingan eyes."

"He would have," Sasuke agrees. He blinks, and his go back to ordinary black. "He planned to take my whole body to get them." He says it with a tiny little smile, like he thinks it's funny that Orochimaru would even try. "The deal was that he would give me enough power to defeat the man I have to kill, and in return I would be his vessel."

"Shitty deal," Suigetsu says.

Sasuke nods. "That's why I changed the terms," he says. Again, just like it's the simplest thing. It's refreshing, is what it is. He knows what he's after and he just goes for it.

"You're going to be fun to watch," Suigetsu says. And man, they'll probably get in some great fights. This is just what he needs, after all that time bottled up and holding still.

"I expect you to do a lot more than just watch," Sasuke says with that smirky, teasing smile. "Here." He throws the empty water bottle, and Suigetsu catches it in one splashing, half-solid hand. "Fill up for the road, and let's keep moving."

"Tch." Suigetsu uncorks the bottle. "Acting like you're the boss again."

Sasuke doesn't bother to argue with him, just turns away to wade out of the stream. Suigetsu can't stop grinning. Yeah, he thinks he'll be just fine like this for a while, flowing downhill in the wake of Sasuke's path of destruction. It's going to be a hell of a ride.


End file.
